


I'll Wait For You, I Promise You

by fallrightintou



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Breakups, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Larry very little, M/M, No Smut, Too much fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Waiting, blame is on me, but like loosely, kind of based on a true story, time jumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:20:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27425590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallrightintou/pseuds/fallrightintou
Summary: I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friendLucky to have been where I have beenLucky to be coming home againI'll wait for you I promise you, I willorZayn and Liam are idiots for two years
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	I'll Wait For You, I Promise You

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, hi! It's been awhile since I posted anything. I've mostly been working a lot and had very little time to write and when I do get the chance, I usually have been writing this one or wanting to write but have no motivation. I know there may be people who want me to finish my chaptered story, This Will Always Be Home, and I will hopefully get that done very soon, I'm just trying to get everything tied up. 
> 
> With this story though, it is kind of personal and I pulled from a story of my own and I think it translated well.
> 
> Huge, huge thank you to Amelia for being the best proofreader/self esteem booster there is. I definitely would not be getting anything done ever if it weren't for her. 
> 
> I really hope you enjoy this. Title from Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat
> 
> Also just a psa, please stay safe, wear your mask, wash your hands, and treat people with kindness in these crazy times.

**April 17, 8:52 P.M.**

He thought things were going okay. He thought they were happy. Okay, yes, Zayn had been busy, getting ready for the last of his finals before he finally graduated from college. Tyler had said he understood and was busy with his own finals. He said that once their schedules finally cleared they would do nothing but lay in bed together, watching movies, eating, sleeping, pretending that they were watching movies but not actually watching. 

But now Tyler stood in Zayn's dorm room looking like he was about to break. Zayn felt like his body was failing him as Tyler ran a hand through his own hair and tried to get Zayn's attention. 

"Zayn? Did you hear me..?" He asked, exasperated.

"Y-yea. But. But why? We said things would be okay." He choked back the sob that threatened to explode from his throat. 

"Come on Zayn. I haven't seen you for two weeks... of course things aren't okay." Tyler sighed and gripped the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. 

"I've been studying! I- Finals and then graduation and we would lay in bed. Play catch up." 

"I don't want to have to play catch up with my boyfriend! I'd rather sit in absolute silence and study but be in the same room instead of stay away from you. I've tried telling you that!" Tyler nearly shouted. Zayn flinched at the volume. He didn't take yelling well, never had. Tyler noticed and immediately backed down. “Sorry. Just.. I’m done Zayn.”

"So have you made up your mind then?" Zayn whispered, not trusting his voice to not break. 

Tyler stared at him for a moment, before blinking once and nodded. "Yea. Yea, I think I have." He measured his words slowly. "I think we should at least take a break. Until finals are over. Then we can get our heads on straight." He sighed. 

"That's. That's only a week away." Zayn tried to control his breathing. His eyes continued to look everywhere in the room but at Tyler. 

"It'll fly by. And then we can focus again. Okay?" Tyler said and went to kiss Zayn lightly, before second guessing it and instead backed up and turned on his heels and left. 

But Zayn didn't get to see Tyler, because he was too focused on the tears that spilled onto his own face. 

♠

**April 20, 5:27 P.M.**

Zayn stayed perched on his bed, the psychology book open to the same page that he started hours before. He had read the same paragraph at least four times but had retained none of it and his eyes started to burn. He wasn't wearing his glasses, he wasn't wearing contacts, had his eyes been unfocused this entire time? The curtains stayed closed across the room and Zayn was still in the sweatpants and sweatshirt that he'd put on after his shower on Friday afternoon. That was four days ago. That was the night Tyler had come over. 

His phone buzzed next to him, but Zayn ignored it again, not caring. The pounding on the door finally got him to look up from the spot on his bed spread that Zayn had his eyes trained on. He stared at the door, unsure if someone was actually knocking. 

"You gotta open the door, Z! You know I won't leave until you do!!" His best friend, Louis called out from the other side. "You didn't answer my calls, or my texts! But you can't ignore me when I'm right here yelling!"

Zayn groaned and stood up opening his door just barely letting Louis see just his hair, his eyes watching his feet. "I'm fine. Go away." He whispered, his voice raspy from non use, already starting to shut the door. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy, honestly. 

"You act like I haven't been your best friend for the last ten years." Louis said putting his foot in the doorway and ducked under Zayn's arm, snaking his way into the room. 

Zayn merely sighed and shut the door, once again engulfing his room in darkness.

"When's the last time you left this place?" Louis asked slowly, easing Zayn into the world of the living. 

He simply shrugged. "Friday morning, I guess?" 

"Z, this isn't healthy. I talked to Tyler.." Louis bit at his lip, very sure of what Zayn was thinking in his mind. It had happened in junior year when he and Isabelle Martin had gone out for three months and then suddenly she was kissing Chris Hill in the school hallway. 

Zayn turned his head to the side and stared at his canvas that laid unfinished in the corner.

"He only said a break, mate. It's not an end all situation here." Louis stared at him. 

"Look where that got Ross and Rachel." Zayn muttered, hoping it was low enough Louis wouldn't hear. 

"If you are good to make stupid Friends jokes, you can come get some food with me." Louis raised an eyebrow, daring Zayn to argue. 

"I- fine." Zayn groaned and started to pull on a pair of converse. 

"Oh no you don't! You haven't showered in days, let alone changed your clothes. Let's go." Louis said, grabbing clothes from Zayn's drawers. 

"I feel like it should be weirder that you know exactly where all my clothes are." Zayn said over his shoulder as he was pushed from the room. 

"Oh please. I also know that all the posters of naked men are stuffed in the back of your closet back home. It's what best friends do." He chirped. "Now go. I'm giving you approximately ten minutes to smell better." He shoved Zayn's toiletry bag in his arms and shooed him away into the bathrooms. 

♠

Ten minutes later, Zayn walked into the hallway wearing the joggers and jumper that Louis had grabbed for him. His hair flopped lazily across one side of his head, the sides growing slowly. 

"Better?" He asked Louis, who was sitting against a wall, doing something on his phone. Louis looked up and smiled. 

"There he is. Let's go!" He cheered and stood up. 

"We're only getting food. And then I have to study." Zayn grumbled, making his way down the stairs behind the menace he called his best friend. 

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Liam, Niall and Harry are meeting us at the diner down the street." Lou said over his shoulder. He continued to walk, but Zayn stopped in his tracks. As Louis pushed open the front doors, he saw Zayn frozen. 

"Z, you coming?" He asked with a raise of his eyebrows, drawing them together in confusion. 

"They- you- I shouldn’t go. I don’t want them to think I’m like.. Weird or something." Zayn gulped and stared at Louis. 

"Stop. They’ve seen you in the middle of a panic attack before. Liam’s usually the one to help you out of them. And Harry’s my boyfriend, I promise they won’t think you’re weird. And if they say anything, I’ll just yell at them like I did Mason Belby." Louis said quickly and impatiently and trudged forward, not letting Zayn argue. 

Zayn moved forward, watching his best friend, remembering why they became friends in the first place back in the fourth grade. At first Zayn had thought he'd just make fun of him too and hold the glasses even farther away from his grasp. But instead Louis had scolded Mason for teasing the new kid and handed the glasses back to Zayn. He smiled with all of his teeth on display and asked Zayn if he wanted to sit with him at lunch. From there, Louis had become somewhat of Zayn's protector, and in return, Zayn got Louis through all of his classes with minimal detentions for being disruptive. 

He sighed and followed in Louis' path, keeping his head down low and only watching the way his feet fell in step with Louis easily. 

The warm spring air hit his skin and made him wish he was wearing lighter clothes. 

"Did you have to grab a jumper, Lou? And joggers?" Zayn said picking at his sweater sleeves. 

"Figured it would be easier than skinny jeans that cut off your circulation." Lou retorted. 

"And the jumper?" 

"First thing I saw." Lou shrugged. They pushed past the crowds of people who stood in front of the campus all night diner and finally saw Harry and Niall sitting in a corner booth. They walked over and Louis crawled into the spot next to Harry and cuddled into his side.

“Look who I pulled into the world of the living, boys!” Louis yelled, jokingly.

“Be nice, Lou.” Niall scowled and scooted over for Zayn to sit. He did so, while giving a small, closed lip smile to Harry and Niall, his hands fidgeting in his lap. He tuned the others out as they began talking about something in class and focused on a spot on the table. 

Slowly he was brought out of his trance by Liam sliding in on the other side of him and pushing a plate of food in front of him

“I ordered you some mashed potatoes and a grilled cheese. I figured it would be easy on your stomach. Guessing you haven’t eaten properly in a few days.” He explained slowly, while setting his own plate in front of himself. Lexi, their favorite waitress, distributed the other three plates and went back to work. 

As Zayn played with the potatoes on his plate, he couldn’t help but wonder how he got to this point. Tyler was never going to be a serious thing. He was supposed to be a… A distraction. And now, two years later, Zayn was feeling helpless and barely eating, not sleeping, and hadn’t seen sunlight in days. Maybe this is how things were supposed to be. Maybe he was supposed to lose Tyler and go be with- 

“Liam! Give me back my burger!” Niall interrupted Zayn's train of thought as Niall crawled over him, trying to get back his food. 

"Not until you admit that I'm better at karaoke!" Liam yelled back, using his forearm, trying to back Niall into his seat. 

“Can you guys not do this while I’m literally right here?” Zayn mumbled as he took a quick bite of his grilled cheese.

Louis snorted as Harry tried to hide his face in his jacket sleeve. “Maybe if you stopped zoning out on us, they wouldn’t have to go to such extreme measures to get your attention.” Louis teased.

“Lou!” Harry scolded and turned to Zayn. “Ignore him.”

“Have been since fourth grade.” Zayn shrugged. He finished what he knew he’d eat of his food and looked at the other four. “I should get back to my dorm. I need to study.”

“But we were gonna go to Mark’s party- OW!” Niall exclaimed as Harry kicked his shin under the table. They stared at each other before Niall seemed to understand his mistake and bit his lip. “Right. Sorry. Do you want us to walk you back, Z?” 

“No, I’m good. I’ll, uh, text you guys, okay?” Zayn asked as he followed Liam out of the booth. They agreed and Zayn waved bye as he walked out of the diner.

Zayn felt his breathing slowly decrease as he finally had a chance to catch his breath. He tugged the sleeves of his sweater past his fingertips and walked down the path to Edens Hall.

He heard a voice calling out to him about halfway to the dorms. He turned to see Liam jogging up to him. “Hey, I know you said you didn’t need any of us to walk back with you but..” He trailed off as he rubbed a hand across the back of his neck.

Zayn laughed lightly. “It’s fine, Li. Thanks. I really do need to study, so let’s go.”

They walked in silence, but Zayn was happy nonetheless for the company. It made his stomach swoop and holler that Liam cared as much as he did. It wasn’t as though Zayn shut him out entirely, but he definitely distanced himself when he started dating Tyler. 

“So can I… Can I ask what happened? And like, are you okay?” Liam asked as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“I don’t really know. We had agreed, well I guess maybe only I agreed, that until finals were over, we’d take some time and get studying done and when finals were over, we were gonna lock ourselves in my dorm room and watch a ton of movies and eat snacks and talk and probably have a ton of sex.” Zayn rambled. “As to if I’m okay, I mean, My chest is tight and I feel like my heart is dropping into the bottom of my stomach. But like, at the same time, if it really is the end, I feel like I’ll be okay.. I mean, he was only going to be a distraction..” Zayn trailed off and immediately shut his mouth and picked up his pace trying to walk faster. 

Liam grabbed at Zayn’s elbow to pull him back closer. “Wait, wait, Z, what do you mean he was a distraction? A distraction from what?” 

Zayn sighed and played with the edges of his sleeves. “Um, it was sophomore year and I just.. I had a crush on this other guy and I felt like he couldn’t ever like me that way back and so then I met Tyler and he asked me on a date and to get over the other one, I said yes. Then the first date turned into a second and then a third and then all of a sudden I was spending all my time at his dorm and then I met his sister and he was calling me his boyfriend. I couldn’t find where things changed.

“At some point, I guess I loved him but to be completely honest, I don’t think I ever really was in love with him.” 

Liam stared at Zayn, his jaw slackened and his grip loose on Zayn’s arm. “Z, why, why didn’t you ever tell us?”

“Because, I thought I was in love with him. And I wanted to be. He worked as a distraction. And then HE broke up with me instead.”

All Liam could do was nod slowly and let his hand drop back to his side. They went back to walking in silence and Zayn’s head was spinning. That was way more than he ever planned on talking about to any of his friends, let alone Liam. 

As they walked up the flight of steps to Zayn’s dorm, Liam couldn’t help but ask, “ So the crush.” Zayn nodded, to let Liam know he could ask. “Has it gone away yet?” 

Zayn looked over at Liam as he unlocked his door and cocked his head. “The crush? No, it never did.”

♠

**April 28, 9:38 A.M.**

“Oh my hell, Horan, we are two days into finals and you’re already having a meltdown?” Louis whined as he flipped pages of his textbook.

Niall groaned as he reread the paragraph he had written three times. “Why did I ever think becoming a lawyer was a good plan? Why did you guys tell me it was a good plan!?” 

“To be fair, we were all pretty drunk and didn’t really think you were being serious.” Liam laughed with his head down on Zayn’s desk. They had all gathered in Zayn’s dorm trying to get in all the last minute studying they could before their last few tests.

“Can I make a suggestion? I say we take a break.” Harry chirped up from where he was sitting beside Zayn on the floor. 

“Easy for you to say, you’re done with all your finals, H. Being a photography major has its perks.” Zayn snided as he wrote something down in the margins of his notebook. “I vote yes. I only have two finals left to take, tomorrow and on Friday.” 

They all cheered and stood from their positions and stretched while they put on shoes and jackets. During the walk to the coffee shop, Louis and Harry made it their mission to see who could walk the fastest. Niall continued to complain about why no one stopped him from studying to be a lawyer and Zayn ignored the looks Liam was giving him. After everyone ordered and they found a table to sit down at, Harry looked at Zayn and asked him the question he was dreading.

"So, how are you feeling?" Harry asked, before hunching over the table when Louis kicked him. "Ow, what the fuck?"

"You weren’t supposed to say anything!" Louis hissed and fell back against his seat. He crossed his arms and stared at Zayn, trying to communicate that he didn’t have to say anything. 

“It’s okay, Lou. No need to harm, Curly.” Zayn chuckled and shrugged off his jacket. "I’m okay, I guess. I mean, I know technically, we never actually broke up, but for all intents and purposes, I’m single, for the first time in two years and that’s… terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. I.. I’m kind of okay to be honest.” Zayn shrugged and slid down in his chair. 

Liam hooked his ankle around the leg of Zayn’s chair and pulled him closer. Zayn let out a small squeak and righted himself. 

"I'm proud of you." Liam whispered in his ear and placed his arm around the back of Zayn’s chair casually. Zayn couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face and leaned into Liam's side.

"See? He's fine. Besides, the one thing he’s forgetting, it’s a break. When finals are over, they’re going to live in a bougie apartment. Now, I need caffeine, right now." Louis said staring at Harry with puppy dog eyes. Harry chuckled and rolled his eyes as he stood and kissed Louis' forehead before walking to the counter to grab their drinks. 

Zayn felt his chest tighten at the action and stared down at where Liam’s other hand was playing absently with the strings of Zayn’s black rope bracelet. Over the last few days, he had finally let himself get used to being around Liam again and secretly never wanted to stop. The whole reason he wanted to be with Tyler in the first place was because him and Liam were constantly touching in one way or another and he didn’t want to ruin whatever they had. Slowly he had pushed Liam out to make room for Tyler but now, he wasn’t sure if that space was ever there, and instead, Tyler was just squished in until the space was too tight to fit anymore.

Either way, Zayn finally felt content and couldn’t help but play with the frayed edges of the holes in Liam’s knee, sighing contentedly. 

**April 30, 2:15 P.M.**

Zayn’s head was spinning as he tried to concentrate on the last few questions of his Abnormal Psychology final. He had studied for so long, but now it felt like he hadn’t even looked at his textbooks in months. He breathed a sigh as he finally set the pencil down and straightened the paper on the desk. As soon as the professor dismissed the class, Zayn was lifting his book bag to his shoulder and bolted out the door. 

His hands fumbled in the pockets of his jacket until he finally released his phone from the cloth and quickly typed a message to Liam.

_ To Leeyum 2:16pm _

_ Hey are you at your dorm? _

_ From Leeyum 2:18pm _

_ Not yet, but I will be in like two minutes. Why?? _

_ To Leeyum 2:19pm _

_ I think I’m having a panic attack. I just finished my last final. _

_ From Leeyum 2:22pm _

_ I’m almost to my building. Start heading this direction.  _

Zayn felt a little of the weight lift off his chest when he realized Liam wasn’t going to ask him a ton of questions. He weaved through the people that lined the sidewalks around campus and finally made it to Craven Hall where Liam was sitting against the front wall twiddling his thumbs. When he saw Zayn approaching, he scrambled to his feet, using the wall as leverage, and took Zayn by the arm, pulling him into a bear hug.

“Feeling any better?” Liam whispered against the crook where Zayn’s shoulder met his neck.

Zayn took a second to check where his mind was, and found that while Liam had lessened the weight, his mind was still racing and his breathing was ragged, even more than before. “Um, not, not really. Too much. Can we… can we go inside please?” Liam simply nodded and took Zayn’s bag from his shoulder and led him into the tall brickstone building. 

The familiar walk up the stairs helped to level Zayn’s head. As they walked through Liam’s door, Zayn’s heart pounded in his ears.

“Z, you wanna tell me what happened?” Liam asked slowly, hoping to keep Zayn calm.

“I was, I was taking my last final and I-I had studied and had Harry help me and everything but when I sat down, it’s like all of the material had just vanished and I couldn’t remember almost anything! Oh my god, Liam! I guessed on most of the questions! I’m going to tank my final!”

“You’re not going to tank. And I’m sure you didn’t guess. You probably made educated guesses.” Liam, ever the logical one, stated simply. 

“This is Abnormal Psychology, Liam. There are no educated guesses. Oh god. I’m going to fail. No wonder Tyler fucking left.” Zayn cried as he paced the room.

“Zayn stop.. He didn’t leave, you guys just needed to take a pause. And if it is somehow over, then he is an idiot that doesn’t know his left from his right.”

“He was supposed to be MY distraction! I was supposed to get over y- my crush and now look! I’m crying over him and wondering why he left! I don’t know how I even got to this point. I’m a mess.”

Liam stood from the stool he was perched on and approached Zayn slowly. “You’re not a mess. You’re human. And you’re amazing. You’re kind, and smart, and funny, and dorky. You’re one of my favorite people.”

Zayn chuckled for the first time and slowly took in a breath. “You’re my best friend. And I’m in the middle of a breakdown, you have to say those things.” 

“No, I don’t! And if you’d stop and really think about it, you’d understand and actually hear the words I’m telling you. You’re all my favorite things wrapped into one person. We can have all nighters where we do nothing but argue the validity of Batman vs Superman, we can have snowball fights at 3 am because we can’t sleep. Jesus, Zayn, can’t you tell what I’m trying to say?!”

“L-Li… Please don’t… Don’t say things you can’t take back.” 

Liam huffed and stomped his foot. “Damnit Zayn! I don’t want to take it back! I have been in love with you for three years! I know that may change things, and that’s genuinely not what I’m trying to do here. I just want you to see that you are a good person and a good friend. Tyler is an idiot. I get it if you don’t have the same feelings and I’m trying to get rid of mine, honest, but you have to know that people love you. And if Tyler doesn’t, then you deserve more.”

Zayn felt the pressure returning to his chest and the tears welling up in his eyes. It felt like the ground was wobbling under his feet and his knees threatened to buckle.

“Z? You need to breathe. Please?” Liam asked shakily. Zayn took a breath that was more like a gulp and stared at Liam.

“I.. I gotta go.” He mumbled and grabbed for his bag on the counter. He made a beeline for the front door and ran out before Liam could chase after him. As he ran, he had no sense of direction or where was heading, just that he needed to be away from people and voices, all the sounds that threatened to surround him. He could feel the vibrations from his phone as someone (99.9% chance it’s Liam) tried to call him again and again. Finally he pushed his way through the halls and stairways of Edens Hall and through his very own door. He threw his blankets down and climbed in bed, pulling the covers back up and hiding under them for as long as the world would let him. 

**May 3, 11:53 P.M.**

Zayn stayed sitting at his desk, making his list of things to pack as a knock came through the door.

“Louis, go away! I don’t want to go to a bar tonight, and I already texted you that.” Zayn shouted over his shoulder. When the knocking didn’t stop, Zayn stomped over and flung the door open.

“Tyler.” Zayn sighed when he saw Tyler standing in the doorway. 

“Hey, Zayner.” The tall brunette smiled and nodded. “Can I come in?”

Zayn stuttered but nodded, and took a step to the left, allowing just enough space for Tyler to step inside. He shut the door slowly, unsure how to speak just yet. Luckily for him, Tyler took the first step.

“You.. You look good. Better than the last time we saw each other.”

A sudden burst of something flashed in Zayn’s chest and he could only describe it as… _anger_. “Yea, well, this time I’m not on the verge of tears.” 

“Come on, Zayn. It did us some good. We got through finals just fine, like I said we would.” Tyler said coolly. 

Zayn let his jaw fall and stared at him. “I got through finals because I had to. Because it’s what I worked my ass off for. Not because of you.” Zayn paused and took a breath, weighing the pros and cons about what he’s about to say. “Be honest, have you thought about what’s going to happen when we graduate?”

Tyler stood silently, clearly unsure of what was happening. “I mean, I figured we would go get an apartment or something, find jobs. Isn’t that what we planned?”

Zayn paced the room and balled his hands to fists so tightly that he was sure his nails would leave indents but he could not bring himself to care at this moment. “No, Tyler. It’s what you assumed. We never talked about it. I want to go home for awhile. I haven’t seen my parents or sisters since the beginning of last summer. Do you know why? Because for Christmas, we went to  **_your_ ** parents house, and at Thanksgiving,  **_you s_ ** aid you wanted me to enjoy it, so we went to  **_your_ ** parents house. And over summer, I went home for two weeks and then came back, because  **_you_ ** wanted to go to California for the summer and rent a beach house. I’m ready to go  _ home _ .” Zayn finished his ramblings and found himself closer to Tyler than he remembered being. He must’ve stepped closer at some point.

“The worst part is that you never asked what I wanted to do or how I wanted to do it. What if I wanted you to come meet  **_my_ ** family or come to Bradford over summer?”

“I-I never thought about it.”

“Exactly my point. Look, you’re great and sweet and smart, but I just. I don’t think it’s working, I’m sorry, Tyler.” Zayn sighed and stepped back.

“You’re actually breaking up with me?” Tyler asked incredulously, clearly not understanding what was happening.

Zayn paused to evaluate what he actually wanted and found himself thinking of home and wanting to be there, focused on his sisters and all of their boy problems and the new trends that had them obsessed. Learning all of his mom's recipes and watching documentaries with his dad on the living room couch while his dad snores loudly because, let’s face it, documentaries are boring. “Yea , I guess I am. I want to go home. I want to just be Zayn for a little while and not somebody else’s boyfriend.” He shrugged. 

Tyler looked down and nodded. “Okay...um, well, I guess it was good to know you, Zayn. Have a good life.” He said slowly and crossed the room, opened the door and shut it behind him as he left silently. 

Zayn gasped for breath and slid down his bedroom door. He could feel the panic settling in his chest but before it could grab hold, he texted Louis, letting him know he changed his mind and that he’d be at Dain’s in fifteen minutes. Louis promptly texted back with a series of profanities about getting Zayn wasted, which is what happened, until Zayn puked on the sidewalk just outside the bar doors and had to be fireman carried by Harry back to his dorm.

**May 6, 10:00 P.M.**

Something wasn't right, Zayn twisted around in his seat and took another sip of his beer. Graduation was tomorrow and he was supposed to be celebrating with his closest friends but Liam wasn't around and something wasn't right. 

“Ni? Niall!” He shouted at the blonde across from him. Niall lifted his head up, showing the pink tint to his skin.

“Yes Zaynie?” 

Zayn chuckled low in his throat and downed the rest of his drink. “Where’s Liam? I thought it was supposed to be a boys’ night before graduation?

Louis perked up and directed his attention away from the conversation with Harry and onto Zayn. “Why do you want to know?” He asked excitedly.

“Cause he’s graduating too? And it’s supposed to be the five of us here so it’s… it’s not right that he’s not.” Zayn said quickly, his voice wavering at the end. 

“So go get him Z.” Louis smirked knowingly. “You’ve both been idiots for like two years and the three of us are a little over it.” 

Zayn stared at the group, slack jawed and held his glass loosely. He nodded slowly and stood from his chair, swung his jacket across his shoulders and left some money on the table for the boys to cover his drinks. He pushed through the crowded room and past the door. He knew he was a little past buzzed but not drunk and that maybe he should wait but what better time to be honest, right? 

As he got closer to Craven Hall, he tried to plan what he would say in his head but everything came out overly cliched or sounded too insincere. On the one hand, he had run from Liam when he had confessed his feelings but, really what was Liam expecting? It was way out of the blue and the last thing Zayn had wanted to hear at that moment because it meant that he hadn’t needed to date Tyler in the first place. On the other hand though, it meant that maybe they had a shot. That maye Zayn’s feelings wouldn’t ruin what they had, because Liam felt the same.

Zayn could feel his breathing get shallow at the thought of being in a relationship. He knew he had to be alone for now and not get into another relationship, but if there was anytime to be brave, it was this moment.

Before he knew it, he found himself in front of Liam’s door, with his hand ready to knock. He hesitated and breathed slowly, hoping Liam was even there. He knocked twice and waited before he heard shuffling coming from inside. 

He smiled when he saw Liam open the door, wearing a pair of black sweats and a university sweatshirt that was slightly too small, mostly because it was Zayn’s. He could tell from all of the paint splatters across the sleeves.

“Hey, Z.” Liam drawled slowly.

“That’s my sweatshirt..” Zayn sighed. Liam raised an eyebrow and pulled at the waist, as if to take it off. “No no, keep it.”

“Oookay. Are you here for something or..?”

“Why weren’t you at Dain’s?” 

Liam pulled an arm across his chest and held onto his other forearm. “I have a lot of packing to do. You know, and get things ready to send back home. I also didn’t know if you would want me there.” 

Zayn winced and shook his head. “Li...can I come in, please? For just like five minutes and I’ll explain?” Liam nodded and stepped to the side. Zayn stepped in and saw the boxes scattered throughout the room, and stepped around them to look at Liam.

“Okay so I should preface by saying, I was one shot and two beers into it at the bar so I am slightly buzzed but everything I want to say is not because of that. And I also want to ask that you let me talk and not interrupt, okay?”

“Okay. But look if this is you letting me down, you really don’t have to, Zayn, okay? Like I said, I’m trying to get past it and it’s working so fa-”

Zayn shook his head and shouted, “You’re the crush!”

Liam stopped in his tracks and stared with fascination in his eyes. “I’m what?”

“You’re the crush that I was trying to get past with Tyler. He was a distraction from you! But the thing is, I don’t want to. I just thought that if I told you, it would ruin things and make a mess and I didn’t want that because you are too important. I guess that’s the main thing I wanted to say, I guess, so say something, please.”

Liam stood stock still for a minute before he started laughing, bent over at the waist.

“You know that’s really not the response somebody wants after confessing something so serious!” Zayn stomped his foot in frustration. 

Liam took shallow breaths, trying to get himself righted before he stood up and walked closer to Zayn. “I know, I know, I’m sorry, and I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at us for being stupid. How- How long have you, you know, liked me?”

“Liked? More like loved. Probably since sophomore year..” Zayn muttered.

Liam chuckled and took a shallow breath. “Well that explains why you stopped coming over as often. And stopped responding to texts within seconds.”

“I thought distance would help.” Zayn shrugged.

“Okay, well we both know now, and I’d very much like to kiss you Z, if that’s okay.”

Zayn felt a shiver go down his spine at the thought but instead took a step backward. “You really have no clue how much I want to say yes. But, I was just Tyler’s boyfriend for way too long. I’m going to go home and be Zayn for a little while. I’m not sure how long. But if you can, I don’t know, just wait, I’ll take a rain check on that.”

Liam nodded and gave a small smile. “I waited three years. I think I can go a little longer. I’ll wait, I promise. It helps that Bradford is only about two and a half hours from Wolverhampton.” 

Zayn took a breath and stepped closer to Liam and hesitated before kissing him gently on the cheek. “I’ll see you at graduation.”

“I’ll see you there."

**June 4, 12:34 A.M.**

“Okay, but there’s something you’re not telling us Zayn. Come on, we’re your sisters.” Doniya whined from her end of the couch. Zayn was sitting on the other end, a bottle of beer in his hand while his younger sisters sat across from the two of them on the other couch. He had been home for close to a month now and as much as he enjoyed every second of it, something just felt off.

“You’re like the eighth dwarf, Mopey.” His youngest sister, Safaa shrugged as she curled tighter into the couch cushions. Zayn stuck his tongue out at her and drank from his bottle, contemplating telling his sisters what the jumble in his brain was about.

“There was a guy at school. Two of them, actually.” He said very slowly, almost painfully slow. 

All three girls jumped to attention, listening closely as their brother told his story. He went through it all, starting from the very beginning and ending when Zayn and Liam said goodbye outside the dorm rooms two days after graduation, before Liam had to catch his flight back to England. Zayn followed on his own flight, six hours later. 

“So now, I’m wondering if I did the right thing.”

“Well do you feel like you again?” Waliyha asked as she ate a handful of Cheetos. 

Zayn shrugged. “I think so. I mean, I got back to painting and reading. And I learned some of mum’s recipes and sat with Baba and I’m sitting with you guys at midnight drinking and eating, so yea, I know who I want to be.”

“Do you want to be with Liam?” Safaa asked excitedly.

Zayn didn’t even need to think about it before answering, “Yes.”

Doniya smiled and jostled Zayns’s foot “Do you think Liam would let you be you before being his boyfriend?”

“I think he’d make sure that I stay me.”

“Then what are you still doing here, sunshine?” A voice asked from behind them. Zayn turned around and saw his mom standing in the doorway in her fluffy gray robe.

“How much have you heard mummy?”

She crossed the room and hugged him from behind. “Enough to know that in the morning, you are borrowing my car and driving to this boy’s house and telling him that you love him.”

“He kind of already knows.” Zayn chuckled and grabbed hold of his mom’s hands. 

She kissed the side of his head and moved away to walk into the kitchen. “As you mentioned. However, it’s still nice to hear. Even better to say aloud.” 

“Guess you better get to bed. Got a two and half hour drive to make tomorrow, little brother.” Doniya teased and kicked at his side. He sighed and smacked her foot away, but stood anyways and stalked to his room.

He slid into bed, and stayed awake pretty much all night, hoping that Liam did in fact wait.

♠

Nine hours later, four phone calls and three cups of coffee later, Zayn found himself in his mom’s black Ford driving the near three hours to Wolverhampton. He had pried the address out of Harry after first calling Louis, then Niall and Louis again before finally getting Harry to listen to Zayn all the way through. Being alone in a car though was driving Zayn mad, so he blasted the stereo through the speakers, hoping to drown his own thoughts. 

♠

Pulling down the road, Zayn felt like his entire life was weighing down on this, and he debated turning right around and heading home, simply tell his family that Liam didn’t wait and then hide away for the next fifty years.

However, before he knew it, he was parked in front of a cute two story that he immediately recognized from the many pictures that Liam had hung around his dorm room. 

He took a deep breath and counted to ten before he stepped out and walked up the front walkway and stopped in front of the white paneled door. He knocked three times and took a step back and waited for what he could only assume was an eternity.

“Zayn! What are you doing here?” Karen cheered happily, effectively pulling Zayn out of his daze. She wiped her flour covered hands on her apron and pushed the door open for him.

“Hi, Mrs. Payne. How are you?”

“I’m good dear. Did you drive here?” She asked peering around him to look at the car parked in front of the house. “Oh you must be exhausted. Come in!”

He smiled and released a breath from deep in his lungs. “Thank you. Uh, is Liam here? I kinda need to see him.” 

She smiled and nodded, in what Zayn could only see in an approving way and pointed to the stairs. “Up there, second door on the right.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Payne.”

“You can stop that now. You’ve known me for four years. I think it’s safe for you to call me Karen.”

Zayn smiled and nodded before making his way to the top of the stairs and down to the second door on the right. He breathed deeply and knocked.

“Come in mum!” A deep voice called from the other side. Zayn chuckled and stepped through. He saw Liam sitting on a desk chair, his back to the door and shirtless. Zayn raised an eyebrow and nodded approvingly, although Liam couldn’t see him. 

“What’s up mum? I thought you were baking?”

“Oh she is. Stopped to point the way for me though.” Zayn said cheerily. Liam swung around so fast, Zayn was sure he had whiplash. “Woah, don’t hurt your neck, love.”

“What- How- You-”

“A little birdie told me that Wolverhampton was only two hours from Bradford. I have a rain check to cash in.”

Liam smiled a deep grin with all his teeth on display and stood from his chair. “You know who you are again?”

“I know who I am. And who I wanna be. I quite like the sound of ‘Zayn, Liam’s boyfriend’” Zayn said emphasizing his own name first.

“Yea, I think I like that too.” Liam said and stepped closer until their noses were practically touching. Zayn bit his lip and leaned up a little on his toes, and pressed his lips to Liam’s gently. Liam was the one to grab Zayn by the waist and pulled him closer, effectively deepening the kiss and pulling a soft whine form Zayn.

They pulled away at the same moment, and just stared at each other for a long moment.

“Worth the wait?” Zayn asked, lifting his hands to wrap around Liam’s neck.

“More than worth it.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed please comment and let me know!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr (basically-wat) or more often on twitter (lolyourenot1D_)


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